G7 nears a Russian oil price cap; Ukraine setting up ‘invincibility centres’ with heat and power for winter
The Group of Seven nations are set to soon announce the price cap on Russian oil exports and the coalition will probably adjust the level a few times a year rather than monthly, a senior US Treasury official said on Tuesday. The G7, including the United States, along with the EU and Australia are slated to implement the price cap on sea-borne exports of Russian oil on 5 December, as part of sanctions intended to punish Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainians needing basic services if Russia knocks out power stations and other facilities this winter can turn to special “invincibility centres,” president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Tuesday. Thousands of centres spread across the country will offer electricity, heat, water, internet service, mobile phone connections and a pharmacy, free of charge and around the clock. “If massive Russian strikes happen again and it’s clear power will not be restored for hours, the ‘invincibility centres’ will go into action with all key services,” Zelenskiy said.
Ukrainians are likely to live with blackouts at least until the end of March, the head of a major energy provider said, as the government started free evacuations for people in Kherson to other regions.
Kyiv will summon the Hungarian ambassador to protest that prime minister Viktor Orbán went to a football match wearing a scarf depicting some Ukrainian territory as part of Hungary, the Ukrainian foreign ministry said on Tuesday. Ukrainian media showed images of Orbán meeting a Hungarian footballer wearing a scarf which the outlet Ukrainska Pravda said depicted a map of “Greater Hungary” including territory that is now part of the neighbouring states of Austria, Slovakia, Romania, Croatia, Serbia and Ukraine.
Russia’s Gazprom has threatened to cut its gas flows to Europe via Ukraine as early as next week. In a statement, the Russian state-owned energy giant said some gas flows being kept in Ukraine were actually meant for Moldova, and accused Kyiv of obstructing the delivery of 52.52m cubic metres from transiting to Moldova.
In Crimea, Russian air defences were activated and two drone attacks were repelled on Tuesday, including one targeting a power station near Sevastopol, the regional governor said. Sevastopol is the home port of Russia’s Black Sea fleet. Russian-installed Governor Mikhail Razvozhaev called for calm and said no damage had been caused.
The Polish president spoke to a hoax caller pretending to be France’s Emmanuel Macron on the night that a missile hit a village near the Ukrainian border, his office has admitted. “Emmanuel, believe me, I am extra careful,” Duda tells the caller in a recording of the call posted on the internet. “I don’t want to have war with Russia and believe me, I am extra careful, extra careful.”
Additional reporting Reuters and Associated Press
